Save the Children
AI Adoption
Following a year with organic rollout of GenAI tools, Redd Barna has partnered with Deloitte to ensure a more structured approach to AI adoption. By integrating AI into their operations through a structured adoption approach, Redd Barna aims to enhance efficiency, drive innovation, amplify their impact, creating lasting and positive change for children.
About Save the Children (Redd Barna)
Redd Barna is a politically and religiously independent child rights organization, part of Save the Children International. Redd Barna’s vision is a world where every child survives, learns, and is protected.
The situation
Redd Barna has initiated GenAI adoption, but uptake remains uneven across departments. Two key issues impede broader implementation. First, identification of valuable GenAI use cases is slower than expected, reducing the transformative benefits originally envisioned. Second, the rollout has been unstructured, leading to fragmented usage patterns—only half of the registered users are actively using the approved tool. This indicates a need for more deliberate change management and targeted user engagement to ensure consistent, organization-wide adoption and value realization from GenAI tools.
Watching our staff embrace AI has been a rewarding experience. I have seen colleagues step out of their comfort zones, ask bold questions, and bring fresh creativity into their work. Through the structure AI Adoption program, supported by Deloitte, we have reached teams across the organization - sparking a genuine culture of curiosity, learning, and collaboration. The most exciting part is seeing how this technology is helping us to work more efficiently and thus making an even greater impact for children. It is not just about innovation – it is about purpose.
- Liina Aagedal, Director Technology and Transformation, Redd Barna
The solution
Deloitte addressed GenAI adoption challenges at Redd Barna by launching a structured, organization-wide change campaign focused on behavior, clarity, and alignment. The approach aimed to reduce resistance and highlight GenAI’s practical value through training, workshops, and success stories. Clear behavioral guidelines and KPIs were introduced to define and measure effective AI use. Deloitte also implemented a systematic process for prioritizing GenAI use cases, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and maximizing impact. Practical, example-driven training helped staff identify relevant applications, while a tailored framework guided future implementations.
To sustain engagement, an AI ambassador program with focus groups and support tools was established. KPI tracking tools and regular performance reviews ensured accountability. Strategic workshops with the leadership team reinforced the AI roadmap, embedding GenAI in daily operations. This structured intervention led to measurable improvements in workflow efficiency and decision-making across the organization.
Impact
The impact of Deloitte’s structured GenAI adoption program at Redd Barna was both rapid and substantial. Within three months, weekly use of approved GenAI tools nearly doubled — from 36% to 71% — indicating strong behavioral uptake. Employees’ self-assessed AI maturity rose significantly, from an average of 1.68 to 3.1 on a 5-point scale, reflecting increased confidence and capability.
The use of GenAI for multi-step tasks quadrupled, rising from 10% to 45%, demonstrating a shift from experimentation to more advanced, value-driven application. Understanding of AI guardrails improved from 42% to 70%, showing strengthened digital responsibility. Additionally, the sense of learning and sharing culture around AI grew from 36% to 60%, highlighting the emergence of peer-driven engagement. Together, these results point to a successful transformation in both mindset and practice, unlocking greater efficiency and fostering a more mature, collaborative AI culture within the organization.
Key takeaways
- A structured approach rapidly increased GenAI adoption, doubling weekly usage of approved tools in under three months.
- Prioritizing high-impact use cases aligned GenAI efforts with organizational goals and boosted more complex task usage from 10% to 45%.
- Clear guidelines and a supportive learning culture significantly improved AI maturity and understanding of responsible use.
Working with the Redd Barna team has been inspiring. With the premise that AI is not just a tool, but a different way to approach work, they have taken action to drive change in their organization amid many competing geopolitical challenges for their mission. Together we have focused on structure, training, behaviors and collaboration to accelerate adoption and anchor a joint change ambition with Leadership. The journey has just begun, and the foundation is strong with a combination of committed leadership, active ambassadors and staff that reaches out of their comfort zones for new ways of working. We look forward to collaborating with Redd Barna on their continued journey ahead.
- John Erik Eikland, Director, Organization and Work Transformation, Deloitte
